Becoming Courser
by TheCableGuys
Summary: After the destruction of the Institute Marieke and her girlfriend took up helping the people of Boston by assisting Nick Valentine and Piper Wright. During one of their operations they stumble upon a strange section of a known base. What is in this section will change Marieke's life forever and she will have to deal with the benefits and limitations of her new life.
1. The Story

After a few days of rest and relaxation at Bunker Hill Marieke and her girlfriend Emily are on their way to County Crossing. Emily's contacts from Diamond city told her that the people there have some information for the article she is writing for Piper.

"It's strange how quickly Publick Occurrences has grown the past year since you came along, Blue." Emily sighs as they exit the main gate of the settlement. "Now I am with you, the woman I love, helping people and writing reports on what is going outside of Boston."

"That is true, that report on the destruction of the Institute gave the Publick a massive boost." Marieke replied as she gives her girlfriend a kiss on the head. After a share of affection, the pair leave the city towards their destination. The women approach the bridge and of course they encounter a raider party who immediately open fire on them.

"GOD DAMMIT BLUE!" Emily screams as she takes her gun out of its holster. "Why do these assholes appear all the time?!"

"I don't know! It is an excellent opportunity to try this new rifle I bought from Vault 81!" Marieke replies as she takes cover from the hailstorm of lead. She takes aim for one of the raiders at the front and pulls the trigger. The bullet hits its target with ease and passes through the raider's head into the car behind him. The others stare at their killed friend and immediately start shooting at Marieke instead of Emily who in turn throws a fragmentation grenade she found a while ago.

"Blue! Grenade away!" She yells as she takes cover to which her girlfriend does the same. The grenade lands close to a car and takes out a bunch of raiders, leaving only a few alive thanks to the armor they were wearing. Still stunned from the explosion, they fail to notice the rapid deterioration of the car's reactor caused by the explosion, and are flung off the bridge when it detonates in nuclear fire.

"That's one way to clear a bridge." Marieke chuckles while holstering her weapon. "Let's move on."

As they cross the bridge the women pick anything useful off the bodies still on the bridge to sell later on. The rest of the walk to County Crossing is uneventful besides the occasional bloatfly or feral dog. After a short walk towards the farm they see Albert Helgert tending to his crop of mutfruit. Two farm hands are carrying the harvest to a caravan who is patiently waiting for them to finish.

Emily waves to the farmer.

He returns the gesture with a friendly smile and a wave back. "Hello Emily!" He dusts off his clothes. "Great that you could come so quickly."

"Hello Emily!" Mr Helgert greets the women as he dusts off his clothes. "Great that you could come so quickly."

"No problem. What's up?"

"Remember those groups of robots that have been attacking caravans and settlements lately?" He asks with worry in his voice. "I think I know where they are coming from…"

He pauses as he seems to think twice for what he is about to say.

"One of the caravan guards saw them coming from the general direction of the Brotherhood of Steel at the airport. I hope they are not responsible for those robots."

"We'll check it out, Mr Helgert." Marieke says with determination in her voice. "I know Elder Maxon is sometimes a bigoted asshole, but he is not one to send out robots to kill everything."

"Fair enough," Mr Helgert sighs. "If you would be so kind to check up on them or the source of those robots, that would me much appreciated."

"We will check it out. Don't worry," Emily says with determination, eager to get the bottom of this story.

They bid the man a farewell and leave toward Boston Airport where the Brotherhood of Steel have set up their base. After a few hours walking the women arrive are immediately stopped by a Knight in power armor.

"Halt! What is your business here?" The Knight asks as she aims her minigun at the other women. "This is a military base under control by the Brotherhood of Steel!"

"Sentinel Marieke requesting to see Elder Maxon." Marieke announces to the Knight while standing straight, even though her figure is dwarfed by the woman in power armor.

"My apologies Sentinel! You may pass," The soldier says as she lowers her weapon. "Who is your companion?"

"This is my girlfriend and partner and we are going to have a problem if she is not allowed entrance," Marieke says with a stern voice. "Are we going to have a problem?"

"No, ma'am, no problems." The Knight stands attention obviously trying to not anger her superior officer. She moves aside and lets the women pass.

"Are these people always this rude?" Emily asks as they cross the main courtyard into the terminal. "Because that woman was rude."

"She is probably new on the Boston B.O.S. Chapter and therefore didn't recognize me. She's just doing her job." Marieke shrugs while walking down towards a vertibird but before she can board she is stopped by Emily. "What was the name of the guy we were supposed to meet? Mason?"

"You mean Elder MAXON?"

"Yeah, him! I overheard someone mention his name and that they saw him walk to somewhere, but I couldn't hear to where."

"Where was this?"

"Back in the terminal with the storage area." Emily points at the main depot of the Brotherhood.

"I know a guy who may have seen him too, follow me!" Marieke heads towards the building and as they enter Emily sees all kinds of people scurry around with stacks of folders, boxes and other means of storage. Just before they can come close to the tall racks they are stopped by a man in combat armor.

"I was hoping I wouldn't see your face here again." The man says gruffly, with obvious resentment in his voice.

Marieke crosses her arms over chest and addresses him sternly. "You show proper respect for your superiors **Knight**."

"My apologies Sentinel. What can I do for you?"

"Have you seen Elder Maxon walk around here somewhere?"

"I have seen him enter the elevator of the old control tower with Proctor Ingram and Teagan."

"Any idea what they were doing there?"

"No, ma'am. They did not brief me on their intentions." The Knight says with clenched teeth. "Was there anything else I can do for you.

"That is all." Marieke grins, obviously enjoying her power over the proud officer who doesn't say anything besides an annoyed grunt as he turns around.

"Friendly as usual here I see?" Emily notes.

"They distrust outsiders and many still see me as an outsider. Only me and Ingram actually get along pretty well within the ranks of the Brotherhood."

Marieke explains to her partner, while heading towards the former control tower, how she and Proctor Ingram have become friends. She tells her that Ingram taught her to operate her first suit of power armor because she had some issues with the one in Concord. Later on, they would train together, and she would help Ingram with her missing legs and maintaining the frame she is in now.

While talking the women pass along several knights, initiates and scribes talking, working, training and other general activities, ignoring the women completely.

They take the elevator to the top of the tower and hear Maxon, Ingram and Teagan bicker about some sort of mission to one of the islands far up north. Marieke makes her presence known by lightly clearing her throat, immediately earning the attention of the three.

"What can we do for you Sentinel?" Elder Maxon asks, slightly annoyed that the meeting has been interrupted. "Since you already barged in, you might as well tell us now and it better be urgent."

"Sir, it is indeed urgent. Innocent lives are at stake and we need to take action!" Marieke gets right to the point, earning the attention of all three.

"What is the crisis." Ingram asks quickly, obviously annoyed by the interruption."

"Citizens of Boston have been attacked by hostile robots and they suspect that the Brotherhood is sending them out to clear sites. There have already been several civilian casualties."

"We didn't send out those robots since, as you should know Sentinel, we do not have the resources to undertake such missions."

"I have heard a knight speak about that old Robco sales center where that Mechanist holed up a few months ago." Teagan reports.

"I know where that is!" Emily claps in her hands. "Isabel used to use that as a base back when she was the Mechanist!"

"Well, maybe the machines are back in operation and started producing robots with her flawed programming again. We need to put a stop to that, again." Marieke sighs. "I don't really like that place. The experiments there were just too fucked up, even for me, and I have seen a lot of shit in my time here in the Commonwealth."

"If that base is still operational it needs to be deactivated so we can do a sweep and retrieve." Maxon says, getting up from his chair. "I want you to check out that base. Clear out any hostiles in the area."

"We were planning to go to that area anyway since it is another item on our list."

"Then we have a mutual agreement." Maxon dismisses the women and returns to his previous activities.

They turn to leave, and after another boring ride in the elevator Marieke and Emily head towards the Robco Sales and Service center. After a short but uneventful trek the women arrive at the decrepit building.

"Are you ready?" Marieke unholsters her weapon as she looks at her girlfriend next to her.

"Yes, let's put this story to print." The reporter cocks her gun. Marieke opens the door and they step into the dark and dusty building.


	2. The Lair

The first few rooms are relatively uneventful. A few radroaches here and there, and soon they reach the entrance of the old military research facility. They pass through the old decontamination arches and enter the facility where they encounter the first robots. Marieke dispatches the rusted Junkbots with ease and soon the pair moves on to the Production Control Room.

"It is strange that this entire facility is back in operation." Emily reloads her weapon while Marieke collects a desk fan for later use.

"Didn't we deactivate the main reactor?"

"I thought we did. I mean, we didn't destroy it because of the crater and we don't want the Cambridge crater to become even larger, right?"

"Enough nuking for a while." Marieke just finished entering a few commands in a terminal and this opens the door to the Robot Storage Facility, allowing them to proceed after taking out some more robots including a larger robot of the Tankbot type. Emily is a bit too eager to eliminate the Tankbot and moves too close. Marieke manages to snag her girlfriend just before the Tankbot's central power supply explodes.

"How many times do I need to tell you that these things EXPLODE!" Marieke yells at her girlfriend who just escaped the fiery blaze.

"Sorry Blue."

The pair gets up from the ground and enters what used to be the Quality Control room. Suddenly Marieke halts and stops Emily too.

"I think there is an Assaultron in this room." Marieke unholsters her favorite shotgun, which tears through robots like they are cotton candy.

"Troubleshooter is joining the fight once again, my love?"

"Indeed, because I see the red glow of that fucking Assaultron upstairs." Marieke checks if she has enough shells in the magazine to eliminate the robot arming its head laser. She runs upstairs and after a few shots and a primal scream Marieke walks down the stairs with the Assaultron's head torn off.

"Why did you tear that robot's head off?" Emily gasps from the sudden display of strength.

Marieke shrugs. "I just put the head on a railing and gave it a good whack with an office chair."

"I didn't as HOW, I asked WHY you did it."

"That thing HURT so I wanted to keep its head as a trophy." Marieke held the head to a wall as if she wanted to fit it on a piece of wood like a hunting trophy making Emily roll her eyes with a loud groan.

"Maybe Sturges can make something cool out of it."

"We have to figure out this issue first." Marieke points at a locked door. "It appears that this door has been equipped with a lock."

The women search the room for any terminals and locks, but they are unable to find any unlocking mechanisms until Emily notices a familiar console in a corner.

"Blue! Check this out!" Emily points to said familiar console.

"That distinctively looks like a vault door console!" Marieke inspects the console for any other details that might tell otherwise. She fails to find things out of the ordinary Marieke plugs her PipBoy into the console and after a short while the cover of the button opens, and she presses the button. As expected the door opens and the women can proceed with their exploration. They enter the main assembly area and were again engaged by numerous robots which were dispatched easily with Marieke's new rifle.

"God dammit! Where are they coming from?!" Emily reloads her weapon once again. "They're crawling out of the woodwork!"

"Nothing a few .308 rounds can't fix." Marieke grins as she takes down the hulking Tankbot blocking the exit.

After the resulting explosion has subsided the pair moves on towards one of the workshop areas that surround the main production hall.

"Look Blue!" Emily points at a familiar metal suit at the end of the workshop. "Power Armor!"

"That is just the frame. It doesn't offer any extra protection and only grants better strength. Plus, I'm out of fusion cores anyway."

"Bummer, some power armor would be of good use here."

Marieke just shrugs and takes some ammunition from a lone ammo box, and hands rounds to Emily since they both are close to running out.

"Blue! Look!" Emily points at a closed of area with a security gate that appears to be connected to a terminal. "There are some more ammo boxes behind that door!"

Marieke heads over to the terminal and cracks its security with ease.

"PSH, a 4-letter password, amateur." Marieke grins cocky as she enters the command to open the door.

Inside they see indeed the ammo boxes ,a few first aid kits with an assortment of medical items and a fusion core behind a mop.

"Good, some stimpaks. I was running low on medical supplies." Emily huffs while stowing the items in her pouch. "You good on ammo, Blue?"

"It is strange that this is all restocked again, we did loot it last time, right? It really seems as if someone or _something_ has moved in and made it operational again…"

Emily shrugs and leaves for the door. Marieke follows suit and soon the women see the main production hall again but this time they need to cross by using some kind of cable car.

"They need to find the one who designed this factory and tie them up to the highest tree." Marieke mutters along while she pushes the button to start the cable car.

"The one who designed this factory has most likely been dead for over two hundred years, sweetheart." Emily chuckles at the pre-war remark. "So, you just got your wish but with nuclear fire."

The cable car slowly creeps towards the other end of the large vaulting room and suddenly out of nowhere a group of synths appears on the bridge they just crossed and immediately open fire on the defenseless women.

"GOD DAMMIT!" Marieke unholsters her weapon once again. "I thought we were done with this shit!"

"How did they even use teleportation?!" Emily takes out one of the Coursers on the side of the bridge. "Watch it Blue! More coming in from below!"

Cursing the cable car for going so slowly, Marieke has had enough.

"Fuck this shit! I am nuking these pricks downstairs!" Marieke grabs one of the fusion cores she found a few rooms and drops it down below in the middle of a group of Gen2's and shoots the black control unit on top. As soon as the core starts beeping she commands Emily to protect her ears and to take cover.

"Take cover?! Where!?" Emily barely finished the sentence before the fusion core self-destructs and reduces the group of Gen2's downstairs to a smoldering pile of ash. After the explosion subsides and the cable car arrives Marieke jumps down on the bridge and breaks the last remaining synth's neck with the stock of her rifle, but soon realizes the mistake she made.

"Blue, why did you jump down?" Emily leans over the edge of the cable car, failing to hold in a giggle caused by the audible facepalm made by the blue haired woman down below.

"I don't know…" Marieke sighs and cleans her weapon with the fabric of her vault suit.

"Why did you wipe your weapon? Gen2's don't bleed…"

"No but they leak some gross fluid."

While they are talking the cable car arrives at the other end of the hall and Emily runs off, leaving Marieke alone in the pile of corpses and rusty water.

Soon Emily returns with what appears to be a length of rope. She throws down the rope and ties it to a railing. Marieke gives it a few tugs to see if it's safe enough to climb up and quickly joins her girlfriend who welcomes her with a kiss.

The women cross the bridge where the Coursers were standing on and enter the next room.

Suddenly both the doors behind them and in front of them slam shut.

"Blue! What is happening?!" Emily starts to panic and tries to find a way out.

"You tell me! These doors are made of heavy steel! Only someone with super human strength can rip these open!"

She hasn't finished her sentence or gas started flowing in the room, knocking both the women unconscious with ease.

When Marieke wakes up her environment seems eerily familiar. It takes her a few moments to recognize that she is in a glass cell, the same ones that were used to hold the test subjects for the robobrain project. On the other end of the corridor she sees Emily crying in a corner of her cell.

She feels cold and sees she has been stripped. All her armor and even her vault suit is gone, but Emily is still wearing all her clothes. She instinctively checks her pip-boy but sees that it is missing too.

"Why did they take all my clothes?" Marieke mutters to herself. "What do they want with us?"

 _"_ _What do we want with you?"_ A voice suddenly calls from speakers in her cell. _"You will see soon enough, M01-91."_ She hears another voice in the background call. _"Is Project Omega good to go?"_

"Why do you call me that and what is Project Omega?" She calls to the voice but gets no response.

Days pass but she has no perception of time and has accepted her fate. After she calmed down a few days ago, she got a communication device, so she can at least talk to Emily. They chat about what they think they are going to do with them, but soon they run out of ideas and the conversations start running thin.

After what felt like a week she suddenly hears a hissing coming from the speaker above her and immediately smells a familiar scent.

"Not…again…" she mutters while she feels her eyelids getting heavier. The last thing she sees before slipping into unconsciousness is Emily's tear-stained face.


	3. The Transformation

After what feels to be a short nap Marieke wakes up once again. She instinctively grabs her glasses and puts them on without noticing the change of texture of her hands. She opens her eyes, but she quickly jumps back from what she sees.

" _Booting Firmware 1.01.001. Designation M01-91."_

She sees all kinds of strange markings in her vision that appear to indicate all kinds of information. Besides the markings her vision is blurry as if she isn't wearing her glasses. She quickly reaches for her face to see if she has her glasses on. When she feels that she is indeed wearing her glasses she takes them off and everything is suddenly crystal clear.

"What have you done to me?!" She yells to the ceiling until she sees Emily lying unconscious on the bed in her cell.

Her confusion evaporates and blind rage takes its place, so strong she barely notices the interface popping into her vision. Suddenly, one thing draws her attention: on top her vision, text appears. _Current Mode: Combat_. She starts banging on the steel door, jumping back in surprise when it actually buckles under her blows. She stares at her hands, for the first time noticing glowing green circuitry running through her skin. Marieke roars and throws herself against the door, stumbling in surprise when the whole thing flies off its hinges and crushes a synth guard on the other side of the corridor.

"What the fu-" she whispers, but before she can even finish the sentence the entire base turns dark. Out of nowhere a thought occurs to her, and it's like the lights have been turned on again. In the corner of her vision she can see a green marker next to _Infrasight_.

"Huh...night vision." she mutters, before bending down and picking up the plasma rifle the crushed synth had dropped. Feeling a lot safer with a weapon in her hands she turns to her girlfriend's cell. It appears to be locked but she pulls a bit harder and again the entire door comes off with relative ease. She tries to wake Emily up but soon synth guards close in on her position. As if on instinct a set of claws appear from the back of her hands and she immediately uses them to cut the shackles that bind Emily to her bed.

Marieke quickly gets up but is soon surrounded by Coursers and other synths. She notices blinking text appear in the corner of her vision, reading, _Subcutaneous Micro-Relay ready_ and she suddenly teleports outside the circle. Quickly recovering from the surprise, she reaches for her weapon and kills the first two Coursers with ease. Two Gen1s try to hit her from behind with shock batons but she teleports behind them and rips one of the synths arms off and uses it to beat both synths to pieces.

The Coursers on the opposite sides open fire and Marieke answers with precision shots from her new plasma rifle. The other synths also open fire and she takes a few hits, but the shots barely leave a mark on her suit she appears to be wearing. Using her relay to close the gap she uses her new claws to rip one synth completely in half and smashes the other's head on a pillar. The Coursers in the back respond by opening fire but even they barely scratch her skin and suit.

Sensing no other threats in the vicinity she disengages her combat mode, making her claws retract.

 _"_ _How did I know how to do that?"_ She thinks briefly, but dismisses the thought when she sees her girlfriend slowly waking up. She rushes over and kneels at the side of her bed. Marieke gently cradles the coughing woman, careful not to hurt her since she does not understand her new strength yet.

"Who… are you?" Emily stammers weakly. "And why did you save me?"

"It's me!" Marieke whispers, surprised and a little scared. "Marieke!"

Emily quickly recovers and jumps up to her bed.

"What have they done to you?!" She panics but Marieke manages to calm her down.

"I don't know, but right now all that matters is getting out of here. We don't know how many of these are left." She points at the pile of smoldering corpses between all the green puddles of goo. She sits beside the still confused Emily who appears to be inspecting her entire body.

"Is it really you?" Emily whimpers, confused and still a bit weary. "You've changed so much!"

"What do you mean?"

"Take a look in the mirror." Emily points at a mirror in her cell.

Marieke stares at her face not sure how to feel at the sight that greets her. Her skin is very pale with a plastic like sheen to it, lines of green circuitry crisscrossing on her hand. Black eyeliner surrounds a pair of glowing green eyes. On her lips she sees that she has been given black lipstick with some lip gloss. The predominant colors of green and black clash with her still blue hair.

"Aside from the hair they do have attention to detail, I'll give them that." She mutters to herself.

"We should visit John after all of this is over. That blue hair of yours doesn't mix well with those glowing green eyes."

Marieke turns around to reply but in the motion both her and Emily's reflection becomes visible for a moment, and the interface that appears startles her back into facing the mirror. She pays more attention to her own reflection and the following text appears:

 **M01-91 – female**

 **Age: Not available  
Occupation: Enhanced Courser/Human Hybrid  
Weapon: Supercharged Plasma Rifle  
Threat to locals: Unknown  
Opinion: Unknown (Self)**

She turns to look at Emily and sees the same happen only with different text:

 **Emily Hudson – Female**

 **Age: 34  
Occupation: Local newspaper reporter  
Weapon: None  
Threat to locals: NO  
Opinion: 3 (romantic partner)**

She quickly dismisses the text and helps her girlfriend get up from her seat on the bed.

"It appears that I have all kinds of enhancements made to my body and eyes. I don't need my glasses, I can scan people for all kinds of information and appear to have gained a limited range teleporter."

"Don't forget the scary super human strength…" Emily points at the reinforced door just outside her cell. "You just tore that thing off its hinges like it was paper."

Realizing what she just did she stares at her hands, disbelief written all over her face. She abruptly snaps out of it, turns her attention to Emily and says in a grave voice: "I have no idea what they did to me and what I am capable of, but this can't have been all of the people in this building. We need to get out of here!"

They exit the cell and walk towards the door, but as they try to get it open it gets stuck at waist height. Marieke crouches down to pass through it and hears a surprised exclamation behind her.

"Blue? Where are you?" Emily appears to have suddenly lost her. "I can't see you!"

"I'm right here!" Marieke shouts from her position just in front of Emily. After Marieke notices Emily can't see her she stands up, startling her in the process.

Emily quickly recovers and hits her girlfriend on the shoulder. "How did you do that?! You made me jump out of my skin!"

"Sorry, they must have installed something like Stealth Boy, I didn't know."

Emily stares at her for a moment before shaking her head." When we are done here we need to find your manual." she murmurs to herself.

'If there _is_ a manual for me.' Marieke thinks, grimly.

Emily shrugs and searches around some gun cabinets for a weapon. Marieke quickly joins and after a short search in one of the security offices they find an old pre-war weapon with plenty of ammunition.

"Cool! A Colt 6520!" Marieke shows the weapon to Emily who immediately checks it out and looks down its sights. "How do you know this gun?" She asks with a raised eyebrow.

"This is what Nate used to carry as a side arm back before the War and I am happy to see it being put to good use once more."

The women explore the base in search of the operating rooms where they performed the procedures on Marieke, but they fail to find anything that looks like it would serve that purpose. After a while they take a break and sit down at one of the desks near one of the brain extraction machines.

Emily is taking notes on her adventure for her newspaper article and sighs. "These images will stay on my retinas for a while…" She takes off her glasses to rub the bridge of her nose, and when she looks to her right she stares right in the glowing eyes of her girlfriend who has a dopey smile on her face.

"What are you staring at?" Emily asks, raising her visible brow.

"The most beautiful woman in the world…"

"Charmer," Emily deadpans, "why don't you try and see if they installed some kind of x-ray vision in those gorgeous green eyes of yours?"

Marieke nods and concentrates on the thought of switching modes for her eyes. She knows she has thermal vision due to an indicator in her peripheral vision. After a few tries the eyes switch to thermal mode and she sees faint silhouettes behind a wall in one of the memory reprogramming rooms.

"I think I see them!" Marieke points at a suspicious wall that shows little rust compared to the rest of the room. They slowly sneak towards the wall and Marieke feels around it for hinges or handles but fails to find any.

" _I think this is operated from the inside"_ Emily whispers, trying not to alert the people behind the wall.

" _Not a problem now, let's give them a taste of what their 'creation' can do._ " Marieke positions herself at what appears to be a concealed sliding door in the wall. She takes aim and gives the door a firm punch, leaving a large dent behind, clearly alerting the people inside. After a second punch Marieke gives the door a final kick and it flies towards the opposite wall, crushing two Coursers in the process.

Marieke unholsters her weapon and steps into the room, aiming at a group of scientists who seem frozen in terror. "My name is Marieke van Dijk, NOT M01-91! "She shouts, "I am a Dutch immigrant from before the war, NOT your personal Guinea pig. You tried to take away my humanity and will now pay for what you have done to me and my partner!"

There is a moment of stunned silence, the whimpering of the frightened scientists being the only sound that can be heard over the humming of the air-conditioning. The moment doesn't last, however, as almost immediately doors open in the previously silent room with Coursers and Gen2's pouring through.

They immediately open fire, prompting Emily to dive for cover while Marieke answers with shots from her own plasma rifle. After taking some hits Marieke grins and teleports behind the defenders, using the confusion to shoot the Gen2's in the back. The Coursers barely have time to turn around before Marieke snaps their necks in a swift motion.

After making sure all the synths have been taken out, she sees movement in the door and looks up to see two scientist clutching laser pistols rushing into the room. They immediately freeze upon noticing the carnage and, seeing the murderous glint in the eyes of Marieke, one of them promptly faints and flops to the ground. The other one drops her pistol and falls to her knees, the stench of urine filling the room.

Glaring at the woman, Marieke leans over her, weapon aimed squarely at the scientists head and mutters one word: "Pathetic."

She directs her attention to Emily behind a desk. "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

Emily stands up and dusts herself off, checking her body for incidental injuries. "You go ahead and find the ones who did this to you, Blue. I will guard these assholes until you return." she reaches for a towel but before she can gag the scientists one of them shouts towards Marieke.

"You can't do this to us! We created you to counter a much bigger threat to the commonwealth than any deathclaw out there! Your predecessor also escaped us and has now gone rogue, and we do not know where they are!"

Marieke turns around with fire in her eyes and puts her heel on the scientist's chest and pushes her against the desk, forcing all the air out of the young woman. "Well you are too fuckin' late to tell me that, and frankly I don't give a shit. You do not kidnap the mother of your former director and plan to use her as your fucking guinea pig!" The green-eyed woman spits at the wheezing scientist.

The woman gasps for air as Marieke releases the pressure and turns towards Emily. "My dear, please make sure I don't have to hear these two whine anymore while I search for the ones responsible." Marieke reloads her weapon and kicks in one of the now locked security doors with ease. Numerous unarmed scientists scurry out of the room before Marieke has a chance to capture them.

She slowly steps towards the now open door and is immediately welcomed by synths firing from the other end of the corridor. She notices a scientist sneaking up from behind and quickly disarms and pushes him to the ground. She puts her leg on his chest to keep him in place while killing the remaining synths in the hallway. When none are left standing she turns her attention to her prize on the floor.

"You are going to tell ME who is in charge here." She calmly squats down over the fallen scientist and pushes her hand on his arm to prevent him from escaping. "I'm only going to ask you once…"

"Go to hell!" The black-robed scientist spits in her face which does not amuse the woman in the slightest.

"I'm going to find them eventually, you can save yourself by just telling me. Stalling only delays the inevitable and they have nowhere to go."

"I said, GO. TO. HELL!" The scientist spits once more.

"Ugh, fine. Have it your way. I'll see you in hell then." With the last words she shoots the scientist in the head, completely melting him into a puddle of green goo. Some of the green remains land on her suit and Marieke grimaces as she cleans it off.

"Yuck," She wipes the goo from her suit and proceeds to another locked door. This one appears to be a sliding door leading to an office where, using her thermal vision, she sees a scientist cowering in the corner. The door seems to be locked but with minimal effort Marieke forces open the door and the scientist escapes.

She huffs and proceeds to the terminal in the room. When she tries to access it, it appears to be still logged in under the name of Sarah Green, Lead Biomechanical Engineer of Project Omega.

"Crap, let one of the head honchos escape." Marieke mutters to herself while reading through the files. She finds all kinds of information on her enhancements and even reads up on her new clothing. She sees an earpiece which appears to be connected to intercom system and hooks it up to her pip boy, allowing her to communicate with Emily who she has determined is at the front desk.

"Um, Em?"

 _"_ _Yeah Blue?"_

"Remember this suit I am wearing?"

 _"_ _Yes, I do, it's hard to miss honestly."_

"Well, I literally can't take off this suit, it is for the most part my literal skin…"

 _"_ _you're kidding."_ Marieke can clearly hear sadness in her lover's voice.

"I wish I were, it's still a shock to me too to be honest, but I read in logs that my entire torso is still intact and 'convenient zippers' have been applied to the suit."

There is a brief moment of silence before Marieke says: "Well, I can't chat all day, I need to get going. I'll be in touch soon!"

She terminates the connection and saves everything to a spare holotape for later use, before smashing the terminal so others can't use the information against her. She gets up from the surprisingly comfortable chair and closes the door behind her.

Marieke passes a few unarmed scientists and commands them to leave. A Courser tries to ambush her from behind but her heightened senses betray the use of a stealth boy. She grabs the Courser by the throat and throws him through the window before finishing him off with a plasma shot to the head.

"I love this gun…" She sighs to herself as she walks through the corridor.

Turning a corner, she sees a small group of Gen2's waiting for her in an ambush. Rather than openly attacking them she quickly teleports behind them and grabs one as a shield, before shooting the rest of them. Another comes from behind her, but she quickly breaks its leg and snaps its neck before eliminating the last Gen2 in the corridor.

Approaching the only open door she crouches down to engage stealth mode and sees what looks like the main office where the Project Lead is located. The door appears guarded by two heavily armed synths in strange uniforms while two turrets are attached to the ceiling. She quickly moves back around the corner to avoid being spotted and calls Emily.

"Em! Can you get some information on synths that wear a Courser uniform, but also have opaque face masks that glow around the edges?"

"Blue! Good to hear from you! I will ask these pricks where I can find that information. Give me a few minutes!" The other side falls silent, and after waiting a short while Emily calls back and seems very content with her results.

"Alright, it took me a while but one of my "friends" gave me pointers to a terminal close to my original position."

"I hope you didn't leave them there."

"Nope! They are safe with me in this tiny office while I scroll through this terminal."

"Alright, what do you have for me?"

"The synths you see at the door are Strigidae-class Coursers. They are stronger, more resilient and above all more dangerous than normal Coursers. According to these notes here they are two generations behind your design, Blue."

"Wait, there are more enhanced humans?"

"No, that's not what I said. The Strigidae Coursers are older types of your design." After that came Project Alpha. Reading through this it appears that the first Alpha-00 did not work at all but its successor Alpha-001 has been at large ever since."

"Interesting, does it mention where this Alpha-001 is?"

"No, but it appears YOU were supposed to be its successor and meant to hunt it down!"

"Well that backfired tremendously." Marieke huffs at this information. "Maybe we should see if we can find this Alpha or any of its kind.

"The Alpha class Courser designs were taken from a pre-war company out in the Mojave, and when I say taken I literally mean **taken**. They massacred every scientist in the building! Poking through these files I've found the company had planned to make solider class weapons of war. Only 27 were made and according to the most recent log, one is still active, but the location is unknown."

"Ok, I wouldn't mind paying the Mojave a visit when this is over. As a "beach holiday of some sorts."

"I'm reading here that the place is extremely irradiated."

"Why? Has the place been nuked or something?"

"According to this terminal it is but I have been told by Piper that the Mojave has not been nuked so, maybe if we ever get to going there I am up for a bit of a beach holiday at Lake Mead! Anyway…" Emily changes the topic back to why she did the research. "Strigidae Coursers are dangerous. Be careful Blue…"

"Will do! They can still be torn to pieces, right?" Marieke terminates the connection and readies herself for the coming fight.

She repositions herself just around the corner and tries to lower her heartrate. She has read on the terminal that While in stealth mode, it is most effective to have her body work in a low heat state. This turns off the glowing coolant veins on her body causing the stealth generator to work more effectively and it helps not getting detected by infrared sights.. She goes down in a meditative position and closes her eyes.

After a few minutes of meditation, she sees the green glow subside and the stealth generator appears to be ready as she sees on its indicator.

She stays calm and engages the stealth field. Slowly the now practically invisible cyborg creeps closer to the Coursers who have their weapons unholstered. The turrets above their heads appear to be in resting mode judging by their hidden barrels, but she can tell that they can reactivate at a moments notice.

She sneaks closer to the door and not even the Coursers notice the slight contours of the stealthed woman. After successfully sneaking behind one of the synths she stands up, disengaging the stealth field and gives a small smirk to the Courser who sees her now.

Before the Courser can react she hooks her foot behind his knee and yanks, throwing him to the floor. She uses the weapon of the now fallen Courser to kill the other and destroy the turrets which just opened fire on her. After she dealt with the first Courser and the turrets Marieke breaks the neck of the remaining Courser and tries to open the door. It appears to have been locked with a terminal that can't be hacked due to a new type of lock.

"Umm, Em? She calls through her earpiece.

"You have reached the office if Emily Hudson, She is not available right now but I can take a message" A male voice responds on the other side with a clearly arrogant tone.

"Who are you and what did you do to my girlfriend?!" Marieke feels the rage build up again and notices the glowing veins on her body glow bright green.

"She is safe and sound, I cuffed her to- BANG!" Marieke can hear a gunshot on the other side and suddenly, to her relief she hears Emily's voice.

"Sorry, my assistant has been _fired_ on the spot for taking his boss hostage. How can I help you ma'am?"

"You get taken hostage and you still make jokes?"

"This idiot didn't take away my lockpicking set I hid in my bra" Marieke can hear the shit-eating grin on her side.

"Well, I'm glad you are safe and sound, but I need your help…."

"What can I do for you?"

"I am in front of the project lead's door but its locked with something that requires a hand print…"

"Well, I don't know why you haven't thought of this one, but have you thought about just kicking in that door? I mean, you have done it before!"

The resulting face palm was so hard that it could be heard on Emily's side of the voice com.

"Hold on. I just gave myself a headache." Marieke sighs. "I forgot these idiots gave me super human strength… Give me a sec."

She taps the door a few times to see how solid it is. The taps seem to dampen immediately as if she is knocking on solid steel.

"Em, this door is solid steel. This is gonna hurt I think…"

"Wait! Before you damage the entire structure see if you can see a seam. I read on this terminal that the door is a double sliding door."

"How does that make it easier?"

"Well, if you can manage to get those _amazing_ fingers of yours between the two halves, maybe you can just split it open?"

"Let me inspect it a bit." Marieke searches the thick steel door for the seam and in the dead center she sees a tiny slit between the two halves. She gives the door a punch to make it bend just enough so she can force her fingers between the two halves and slide it open with a bit of effort. As she pushes open the door she hears hydraulic piping snap and burst while her target draws his gun in a panic and opens fire.

"Big mistake, asshole!" Marieke rips the door out of its frame and throws it to the side as she slowly walks towards the clearly panicking man.

She takes a few hits but the blue lasers barely bother her, she is set on ruining this man's day and even life if possible. She reaches the man who is ghostly white of fear, grabs him by his throat and lifts him up with one hand.

"How do you like your creation now, you **fucking scumbag."** She growls to the gurgling man. "You would expect me to kill you now, don't you?"

The man nods slightly and she returns with a half-smile.

"You won't get away that easy. I have some ideas for you to pay back for what you did to ME."

She throws the man through the window to what appears to be an interrogation room and calmly teleports to the wheezing figure. He tries to get up but she puts her foot on his chest to prevent him from doing so. Realizing struggling is useless against his own "creation" he gives up and lays flat on his back, softly sobbing in mortal fear.

Marieke stands up, laughing at the miserable pile of man that lies on the floor in front of her feet.

"You're not even pleading for your life? Pathetic little man." She laughs before stomping on one of his ankles, making him cry out in agony.

"THIS is for what you did to ME!" She yells angrily at the still squirming man and proceeds to break his other ankle too.

"And THIS is for what you assholes were planning to do on my girlfriend!"

"I- If you're so full of hate, why don't you just kill me?!" He wheezes before collapsing on the floor again from the pain.

"You think I would give you that pleasure?!" Marieke laughs. "I want you to suffer as I did and ESPECIALLY for the trauma you caused my girlfriend!"

"Go to hell!" He spits.

"Gladly, but not today…" She turns around and kicks in the locked door of the interrogation room, leaving the bleeding man behind.

She walks back to the front desk where Emily is patiently waiting. When they meet they exchange their kisses before exiting the laboratory, leaving the carnage behind.

As soon as the women leave the laboratory they feel the entire building shake followed by the sound of an alarm coupled with bright flashing lights.

"What is happening Blue?!" Emily squeaks with panic in her voice.

"Something or someone is attacking the lab and I think we have another fight on our hands. Get ready!" Marieke unholsters her weapon and readies herself for the fight.


	4. The Logs

Project: Omega

Designation: M01-91 known as Marieke  
Human/Courser hybrid

Project notes:  
Due to the complete failure of project: Alpha we have discovered that fusing a human and a synth is more challenging than anticipated. Father suggested using the back-up from Vault 111 as a host and prototype of the new generation coursers. Thanks to the blueprints from Project: Alpha we managed to make the human brain talk with the synthetic nerves and body but due to critical failures in the brain interface the unit malfunctioned and has been marked for destruction since the unit is not responsive to any recall commands and shows extreme violent behavior and Dr. Ayo has ordered for its destruction but this has been unsuccessful due to Alpha-001's enhancements, coursers and other synths have been proven ineffective.

Project Alpha has been discontinued and Project Omega aims to create a more formidable opponent to Alpha-001 by using synthetic components, which will allow for recall codes and remote reset.

To allow for learning, Dr. Richardson still ordered for a Free Will module but a mindwipe is required since the subject is Father's biological mother because of DNA issues.

Below is a full list of planned features and enhancements:

========================  
Composite skeleton  
Super human strength and agility due to replaced limbs and spine  
Healing factor  
Cybernetic eyes that grant infrared vision to detect stealthed targets and see in darkness  
Extreme endurance due to synthetic legs  
Cybernetic implants that aid with healing of radiation and wounds  
Synthetic nerves for precision timing and reflexes  
Cloaking device for enhanced stealth abilities

Miniature Relay implant for short distance teleportation

Like Project: Alpha an EXALT system will be installed for diagnosis and systems administration.

 **Testing log**

[Day 1]

Successfully captured the subject and romantic partner. The subject has been separated from their lover and after the project is successful will hold no memories of their past life.

Subject shows extremely violent behaviour since they destroyed numerous gen1's and gen2's prior to be tranquilized by one of the assistants. Prepared data from subject's Pip-Boy that has been imported from the door we installed which was locked using a defunct vault door opening console. All data has been stored in servers while it is being prepared for implantation and the neural link.

[Day 4]

Subject has calmed down and will soon be taken to the operating room for the procedure. One of the assistants suggested to do the mindwipe prior to the enhancement procedure but that might cause conflicts with the brain not knowing how to operate its new limbs. Overruled and proceeded with preparations.

[Day 6]  
STAGE 1

Tranquilized the subject prior to first procedure. Subject will be under complete narcosis for the entirety of the first stage. Limbs successfully replaced and connected to central nervous system. Brain responsive to impulses from the nerve endings indicating a compatible nerve link.

External input via cybernetic EXALT implant platform indicate that all limbs are functional.

[Day 7]

STAGE 1

Due to some problems with the connections of the synthetic limbs a X-92 ghost suit has been used to help keep the limbs attached to the body. This experiments of the suit have been cancelled a decade ago but have proven instrumental in the success of this suit has replaced the skin tissue of the limbs and some of the torso.

Father has ordered in his the premise he left after he passed in the destruction of the Institute that the subjects reproductive organs are not to be touched so the DNA of the synths is safeguarded. This made us reconsider some of the modifications we had planned and have acted as such.

[Day 9]

The subjects romantic partner has calmed down thanks to a sedative gas we have been pumping into her cell. I ordered one of the assistants to keep an eye on her vitals as we cannot lose this subject for further psychological testing.

The subject, henceforth know and referred to as M01-91, has been locked in their cell in a sedated state for recovery. When all systems read green we will proceed to Stage Two, where we will install the cybernetic eyes and other implants.

[Day 11]

STAGE TWO

M01-91 has successfully recovered from Stage One and seems ready for the next stage. Anesthetics have been refreshed and M01-91 remains in a stable semi vegetative state while all vital organs remain functional.

Organic eyes removed without any complications and replaced with cybernetic eyes which strangely enough glow bright green which match the glowing coolant streams of the X-92 GHOST suit. This might pose issues with stealth when in M01-91 is in active duty. Requested a portable cloaking implant for installation after recovery.

During the augmentation procedure we received new limb actuators which grant M01-91 superior agility and much greater strength. Making their combat effectiveness even more impressive. The cybernetic eyes grant M01-91 infrared vision, night vision and minimal optical zoom thanks to nano-lenses which allow M01-91 to use scopes more effectively.

Dr. Richardson told the research team that if this project completes M01-91 will be a formidable opponent to Alpha-001 who is still at large after numerous attempts of recapture and termination.

The boys from the cybernetics laboratory outdid themselves with the latest generation of PHEONIX Monocyte Breeders. This implant grants M01-91 minimal regenerative abilities which should aid with recovery from injuries.

While Dr. Davis was busy with installing the contaminant filters in the throat of M01-91, Dr. Green prepared the legs for the new Load Bearing Actuators with Kinetic Dampeners. After the legs were finished Dr Davis proceeded to install the Nociception Regulators in M01-91's brain together with the PHEONIX system. While the cybernetics team was finishing the install of the actuators the neural team started with the installation of the neural link between the body of M01-91 and the Pip Boy attached to their arm. The internal Relay generators will hopefully allow M01-91 to relay behind their target or out of danger.

After hours of operating M01-91 was ready for the NEMEAN Subdermal Armor but Dr. Richardson requested a few days of recovery so M01-98 was ready for such an invasive procedure.

[Day 13]

M01-91 has been recovering more slowly than anticipated. Dr Green claimed that some of the implants require a few more days to install before we can see their effects.

M01-91's former romantic companion, will be referred to as subject E, has given up her futile attempts to reason with the guard synth and has spent the entire day quietly in a corner. We did not have to use more gas to keep her calm. It appears she has accepted her fate and will soon comply to our orders when we start the experimentation on her.

Note: I am so glad Dr. Richardson allowed me to join this team! To further the Courser program with this ambitious project is exciting to say the least!

[Day 15]

M01-91 has been under narcose for a week now and shows no signs of deterioration.

The Hypertrophy Accelerators in their brain keep all muscles in peak condition while the actuators are being calibrated.

After the calibration finished Dr. Richardson gave the go ahead for the sealing of the skin after the installation of the NEMEAN Subdermal Armor has been completed. M01-91's PHEONIX system has been functioning remarkably and their skin sealed within minutes.

When the skin had fully sealed we moved M01-91 back to their containment so they can recover for the final time before they will undergo the full mind reprogram. M01-91 will never remember her old life, her old friends and even her lover we have locked in another cell in this facility. It is kind of sad but all for the redefining of Mankind so sacrifices have to be made.

[Day 16]

It appear some interns have meddled with the PHEONIX system. The results are interesting if not borderline perverted.

M01-91 appears to have grown a few cup sizes for their bust area and their buttocks also have grown considerably. Dr. Green was furious. She immediately tried to reverse the "Enhancements" but failed due to an unresponsive connection to the PHEONIX unit located in the chest and lower back. M01-91 now has to operate with this body. Dr. Richardson mentioned that this body may be desirable for men on the surface and can be utilised to convince them to help M01-91 in their operations.

Hearing this from Dr. Richardson Dr. Green stepped away from the suspected interns but he still made it clear disciplinary action was in order.

After the interns were put back to work Dr Richardson instructed the neural team to implant the combat training into M0-91's brain which makes them as effective if not more effective as our most elite coursers.

[Day 17]

Today was supposed to be the day of the mind reprogramming but it has gone disastrous to say the least. M01-98 appeared to be completely non responsive to the signals of the EXALT system and the imprint continually failed to even start. We had to tranquilize M01-91 multiple times but their implants keep flushing her system from the sedative the guards kept administrating her. We hope she does not remember any of this fight otherwise the recalibration of her actuators might be in jeopardy.

After an hour long struggle the guards finally subdued M01-91 and have transported her to her containment. Subject E has noticed her former companion and still showed great signs of grief and aggression. I think I saw M01-91 twitch lightly to one of the begging screams but I hope that was just an illusion.

[Day 18]

All hell has broken loose! M01-98 has broken free from their containment and managed to get her hands on the new experimental plasma weaponry from one of the guards and they have started a rampage through the facility, killing scientists, completely ripping apart gen1 and gen2 synths.

I saw her (Fuck this shit, she is still a woman and I will now refer to her as such!) run past to Dr Richardson's office and heard shots coming from there. I can only assume she has killed him as an act of revenge. I just hope she will spare me… God I'm scared. We have created an invincible killing machine and we cannot control it. We took away this woman's humanity to correct our own mistakes during Project: Alpha,

After a while the shooting stopped and she has not noticed me here. I could hear sobbing coming from the cell block where we kept her lover and I can only assume that she has not forgotten about her.

I saw them walking past the room I am typing this in. How could we be so vain to destroy the affection these two show. OH GOD THE DOOR IS OPENING! TELL MY WIFE I LOVE HER!


	5. The Escape

"WARNING! Unauthorized entry from the main entrance! Base in lockdown!" The mainframe announces, solidifying the women's fears.

"Great, what now?" Emily sighs, checking the ammo of her weapon. "I don't have enough ammo, one and a half magazine."

"I broke open an ammo storage cupboard on my way back here. There has to be some useful ammunition in there!" Marieke gathers plasma cartridges to make sure she has enough. "To be fair. I am running low too, so I need to find other ways to get us out of here." The women leave the lab behind and make their way to the elevator. When they exit the elevator, the room suddenly turns dark. Using her night vision Marieke sees that they are being surrounded by what looks like Gunners. She sighs and lowers her weapon.

"You have no idea who you are dealing with." She says calmly but her calm state of mind quickly fades as two hands grab Emily from behind and bring her to a large man in Power Armor, who bellows with a cocky laugh as he accepts his hostage.

"You are coming with us or this beautiful specimen will be brought to the raiders." The apparent Gunner boss handles Emily roughly as if she is already his property. Marieke grits her teeth seeing how he handles her girlfriend. She reaches for her weapon threateningly and looks into the Gunner Sergeant's eyes.

"Let her go. I'm warning you, you have no idea who you are dealing with." Marieke can feel her face become bright red with rage. "Let. Her. Go."

"Do you really think that fancy suit will do anything to help you fight MY army?" The Gunners laugh as the Sergeant makes taunting gestures to the crowd to rile them up against the steaming cyborg.

"I am going to say it one more time. LET. HER. GO!" The green veins on her new body start glowing bright green to the amusement of the Gunners surrounding her.

"Oh look! Our friend lights up like a christmas tree! What are we scared! HAHAHAHAHAHAA!"

"You are going to regret this." Emily whispers in the sergeant's ear with a devious smile, knowing what is about to happen she ducks for cover as Marieke instantaneously teleports behind a group of gunners and quickly snaps their necks before they can respond.

She picks the combat knives from the corpses' sheaths and throws them towards some Corporals opposite of her, both knives hitting their targets skull, instantly killing them. The sergeant returns fire and commands the other gunners to cover him, so he can grabs Emily and make a run for the exit.

Hearing Emily scream enrages Marieke even more. She drops the gurgling Gunner and teleports to the escaping sergeant. He is almost at the door but before he can open it Marieke appears before him and stops him in his tracks. He tries to give Marieke a right hook, but she expertly catches the fist with her smaller but much stronger hand. She gives the hand a good squeeze and nearly crushes the sergeants armored hand in the process. He falls to his knees and Marieke gets close to his face and whispers soft but angrily in his ear.

"I want to make ONE thing clear. Next time when you consider taking my girlfriend hostage think of what I just did to your pathetic men." She grabs his head and turns it to the corpses of the Gunners that were surrounding her. "You now know who you messed with and if I see your face ever again, I will PERSONALLY hunt you down and make you beg for mercy." She calmly stands up and helps Emily back on her feet. She holds out her hand, gesturing she is waiting for something. The Gunner sergeant reluctantly puts Emily's gun in her hands and runs for the exit, but before he can open the door Marieke shouts once more.

"Sarge! You forgot something that belongs to us!" Marieke holds out her hand as if she is expecting something to be put in them and soon a few magazines of 10mm ammunition are put in her open hand.

"All of it." She commands with a stern voice, glowing eyes watching as they strike fear into the otherwise proud sergeant. He reluctantly hands her more boxes which contain more ammo and when she is satisfied, she gestures him to leave her sight. The man quickly scurries towards the exit. Green eyes follow the running sergeant.

Emily stays close to Marieke who keeps a close eye on their surroundings. Even Emily has calmed down significantly as she feels safe with her now cybernetic girlfriend. When they near the exit Emily spots something that the Gunners did with their rude entry.

"Blue! Look! The explosion opened a safe!" Emily points at a large safe with a cracked open door. "It's not fully open but maybe you can bend it open?"

Marieke pries her fingers between the safe and its door and pulls with all her might. Slowly but surely the door opens and when she opens the safe far enough, they see a unique weapon.

"Is that what I think it is?" Emily stammers as they see the contents of the safe.

"It seems like it. That looks like a katana with a plasma generator…"

"C'mon! Pick it up! Gimme a good pose! Then I can take a picture with this camera I found!"

Marieke strikes a heroic pose with the sword and Emily snaps the picture. She takes out the film roll so they won't have to take the whole camera with them.

"You look amazing my love. As soon as we get back to Diamond City, I'll get this developed."

They exit the room and head towards the exit of the bunker. On the way they meet a few straggling Gunners, but they are easily dispatched by either Marieke's rifle or Emily's pistol.

"You were over the shock of being kidnapped quite quickly Em'." Marieke holsters her weapon after killing a Gunner. "People usually don't really recover from this so quickly."

"I wanted to get out of this cursed place as soon as possible and I realized sobbing did not speed things up. I am still distraught, but I'll manage for now." Emily intertwines her fingers with Marieke's and gives them a kiss. "Besides, I have the most awesome and beautiful bodyguard a girl can ask for."

The women share their affections and soon they close in on the exit of the base. Their peace doesn't last long because when they enter a large room all doors slam shut, and a familiar face appears behind a set of windows.

"Ah, M01-91 and her so called girlfriend." Justin Ayo greets them with a sinister tone in his voice. "I'm glad you could come here so quickly to witness the reveal of my second finest work. With you being the prime of my work."

"Cut the shit Ayo and let us go!" Emily shouts towards the deranged scientist "Why aren't you in that crater?"

"I just escaped with the rest of the evacuating scientists. I used the chaos to escape."

"Now that you are here and made my life a living hell, why don't you just cut the talk and let us go?"

"Well, as we say in the Institute; failed experiments should be discarded and that is what I am going to do with you two." Ayo snaps in his fingers and two figures drop down from a bridge above. Both their faces are completely covered but the masks show a faint glow in their eyes. Marieke unholsters her weapon and takes aim, but just before she can shoot Emily stops her.

"Blue don't! Those are friends of mine! They look like they are under control by something in the room with Ayo! You use that sword you just got to keep them busy and ALIVE while I figure out how to free them!"

"How do you know they are your friends?"

"That sword the woman is holding is a one of a kind Japanese katana! There are only two confirmed Japanese ninjas in the commonwealth. Ayo uses that dish over there to control them via the transmitters on the backs of their necks!"

"I'll keep them busy then, you better find a way to free your friends!"

As Marieke finished her last sentence, the figures dash forward and she has little to no time to respond before she is overwhelmed by the trained ninjas.

While the three are fighting Emily slips away and climbs up to the balcony where Ayo's supposed control room is. She sees the door is locked with a terminal and starts the hacking subroutine to open it up. Before she even can enter the first command she jumps up from her concentration by a loud crash.

"Keep them in one piece Blue! I don't want to lose more friends!"

"I just knocked the dude unconscious! Two versus One isn't really fair" Marieke's voice hitches from exertion as she catches another blow from the female's sword. Paying no attention to her partner who lays unconscious in a corner.

After a short while Emily manages to hack the terminal and orders it to open the door. Just in time to dodge the female ninja who was thrown away by Marieke.

"HEY! BLUE! Next time when you throw brainwashed ninjas, don't aim for your girlfriend who is saving your ass!"

"Sorry but I had to divert her momentum somewhere!" Just as Marieke says those words the woman regains her posture. She immediately jumps down and resumes her assault on the cyborg, paying no attention to the other woman in the control room. Emily rushes towards a terminal and starts hacking it while Marieke is struggling to keep the skilled Ninja at bay and to buy more time to free them. She carefully notes down every wrong guess but gets scared by a loud crash.

"HEY! Can you two keep the place intact?!" Emily yells to the fighting women. "And especially you, Ms. I'll throw a mind-controlled ninja into a steel cargo door."

Marieke mumbles a quick sorry and immediately braces to divert another attack. "Can you PLEASE hurry?"

Emily runs back inside and quickly continues hacking the terminal linked to the mind control machine. Time slowly ticks by and Marieke is getting tired. She gets distracted by a radroach for a second and her attacker uses the distraction to get Marieke on the floor and lifts her sword up for a killing blow. Marieke closes her eyes and braces, but it doesn't come. She sees the ninja frozen in front of her.

"You ok?" Emily jumps down and rushes to Marieke.

"Yeah I think I am. That or the afterlife is a big disappointment." She pushes the fainted ninja aside to reel in Emily for a victory kiss.

"You always find room to make a joke. C'mon let's see if they are really who I think they are."

Marieke picks up the fainted ninjas and lays them down next to each other. They wait a while for them to wake up and eventually the man wakes up and mutters something in Japanese.

 _"Nandatto...doko darou...?"_ He mumbles while the woman wakes up next to him.

"Um, can you say that in English? We don't speak Japanese." Emily says to the man while helping him with his mask.

"He just wants to know where he is and what happened." The woman murmurs, barely recovering from being unconscious.

"Yes, and who are you?" The man asks goggily.

"Don't you recognize me? I'm Emily Hudson! That reporter who interviewed you on your retaking of Fort Strong!"

"I remember now. You changed a lot." The man helps the woman stand up on her feet. "Where are my manners! Allow me to introduce myself to your lovely partner." He turns to Marieke who is standing quietly behind Emily.

"My name is Sosuke Fujisaki and this is my wife Kurumi." The pair bows and Emily and Marieke answer the gesture by bowing the same.

"They are those mercenaries I told you about a while back, love." Emily stands between the pair. "They might be able to help you with your new body."

"I do have to say, you have gotten yourself a one of a kind woman with you Ms. Hudson." Kurumi inspects Marieke from top to bottom. "I have never seen a woman or a man that has been modified to this degree!"

"Well, I didn't want this anyway. Me and Em' got taken captive and they basically made me mostly robotic with all kinds of enhancements and not to mention super human strength."

"Ayo did this to you?" Kurumi makes fists to curb her anger. "That _kisama's_ coursers killed some of my men and he's gonna pay!"

"Not to mention the whole mind control thing." Emily says while handing Sosuke his weapon back.

"That too. C'mon, let's go to our base where we can discuss our next action." Sosuke gestures the women to follow him.

The group leaves the base and the out the exit of the Robco Sales and Service center and on their way to Fort Strong. After a short walk they approach Fort Strong where Sosuke and Kurumi have their base but as the fort comes in view, they see columns of smoke rise from the fort and seeing this makes them rush towards it, fearing the worst.

"We have to hurry! There may still be survivors in there!" Kurumi commands while drawing her swords. "You ready for another fight?"

"We're with you!" Marieke readies her rifle while Emily quickly unholsters her own gun.


End file.
